How does an after market clutch feel opposed to the stock?

[Electro]

When i bought my NSX the owner said the car had the clutch replaced at 79K miles... my car now has 89K miles and for some reason everytime i take off, whether it be fast or slow, the car shudders. now i've read that shuddering is normal, but everytime i take off??

If this is still the stock clutch, it is a dual clutch right? The aftermarket one's like the comptech are not...

so does the comptech clutch shudder too?

What other clutches are available for the NSX? Centerforce? etc...

thanks for the info - Electro

 

[Edo]

Well, my stock clutch shuddered quite a bit when I took off, especially at low RPM's...
Maybe its just an inherent flaw in the dual disc design...
Comptech offers a single disc replacement, and I believe it is a modified Porsche/Sachs unit..
Dali uses Centerforce to remanufacture a stock clutch, and so does RM from what I understand. I've driven a Comptech Singledisc Track use clutch and that thing shudders ALOT regardless of launch technique...
I currently have a Dali Clutch installed and aside from some VERY minor shuddering it feels fine. Pedal effort is just a tad higher than stock, as opposed to the Comptech one which is quite a bit heavier..

 

[nsxtasy]

everytime i take off, whether it be fast or slow, the car shudders. now i've read that shuddering is normal, but everytime i take off??

The key to avoiding the shudder is letting the clutch out when the engine revs are dropping. More info at http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Troubleshooting/clutch.htm

If this is still the stock clutch, it is a dual clutch right?

The stock clutch is a dual clutch for the '91-96 NSX, a single clutch for '97 and later.

so does the comptech clutch shudder too?

What other clutches are available for the NSX? Centerforce? etc...

RTFAQ at http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/clutch.htm

 

[Andrie Hartanto]

i have Dali Racing/Centerforce clutch in my car for about 8 months now, with numerous track events and city driving. It's feels like stock (easy to modulate and easy pedal pressure). Never shudder, grip strong. However, they make chirp sound every now and then. But then again, I experience chirping sound with my stock clutch as well.

 

[Electro]

Andrie how much did you pay for your Dali Clutch?

 

[Andrie Hartanto]

u can check it at www.daliracing.com I believe it's $1250

 

[PUREVIL]

Do you guys have any idea why our clutch travel is sooo long???? I drove a 97 lude, 00 civic si, 94 civic si, and a 00 Celica GTS and the pedal travel is so much shorter than my NSX?? Is that just the way it is? Are the 97 + models shorter??? I was just curious.

 

[Electro]

I'd rather the clutch engage at the top of the release than the bottom near the floor.... less effort invovled in pushing the clutch in and out...

I drove my buddies 97 Cobra and it's clutch is a pain in the ass to push down.... very heavy... but its one of the strongest clutches i've ever felt.. u can dump the clutch all day long and it will have NO fade what-so-ever... thats the way i want my NSX clutch to feel.... no fade and strong.....

is this possible/???

 

[Edo]

You know..I used to own a Cobra..and yes that clutch is TOUGH. You could pop the clutch at 6000rpm's and take off so hard you could feel the driveshaft flexing underneath you.
I believe the secret to that particular clutch is the 10" Diameter. If any of you have ever seen the stock NSX 2-disc clutch,you'll agree with me that it almost looks too small for such a powerful car. When you do the math though, the surface area of 1 10" clutch is much larger than that of 2-6" clutches...

Also, the increased heaviness in the pedal would indicate that the clutch has quite a bit more grip than the NSX clutch (Which, to me seems overly light for a "powerful exotic")

In any case, I'm sure the NSX can get that sort of clutch, just at the cost of increased pedal pressure, and less street driveability.
I DO know that the Comptech Race clutch is very similar in feel to the Cobra clutch, heavy pedal effort, and clamps like there's no tomorrow...

 

[Electro]

Oh really??? b/c with my new job, i can afford to burn out at every red light.... and that's what i want......

can anyone vouch for this Racing clutch????

 

[SpeedDemon]

Mustang - Why would you want to dump the clutch at 6000RPM? Just to get even more wheelspin than you'd get if you dumped it at 5000rpm?

Clutches have it far worse on performance all-wheel drive cars. With 4 wheels gripping, something has to "give" and it's less likely to be the tires...

Here's a question I've been wondering ever since seeing posts about the clutch pedal for the NSX:

Is the clutch pedal adjustable?

On an Eclipse Turbo, for instance, there are 2 different adjustments possible by playing with the nuts behind the clutch pedal - one that determines the overall length of the throw, and one which determines where the clutch starts to engage. You can adjust the clutch to start engaging right off the floor, higher up, etc. This comes in handy with cluches like the Centerforce, which for the Eclipse changes the pivot point on the pressure plate to increase clamping pressure (at the expense of how much clutch pedal travel you need to engage & fully disengage the clutch).

Thanks
Marc

 

[Edo]

You know, I've been wondering about that myself, my clutch engages very high, and I want it to engage a little more in the middle...

and SpeedDemon..yes..6000rpm's burns out more than 5000rpms....I LIKE that.. hehe

 

[maomaonsx]

I have Comptech clutch. I like it a lot. much shorter travel, very grippy, and gives more feedback. Only downside is the pedal pressure is increased noticeabily. But I tend to like it this way.



------------------
Please visit my NSX tuning page! Mods, Japanese NSX related stuff, pics!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/6073/index.html

 

[Electro]

maomaonsx, do you have the racing comptech clutch or the street competch clutch?

 

[ZABADNSX]

Hi Electro, I just recently installed the CT Powergrip 2 Competition Clutch. All I can say is AWESOME. Working in conjunction with my new 6spd. and 4.55's.
There is no chattering what so ever, and the aluminum flywheel CT provides with this clutch is great.

Good Luck

 

[Electro]

ZABADNSX, how much did that whole setup run you? I'm going to put my ride in the shop for the 90k service soon... so I want to get all the work i can get done while it's in the shop.

So you would recommend the 6spd conversion with the 4.55 gears and powergrip 2 competition clutch?

The chattering is getting on my nerves as I do alot of city -stop and go- traffic... of course I do alot of highway -acellerate till your balls bleed action too so I want something that will give me the performance that should have been on the NSX from day one.

Thanks for the info! -E

 

[dswartz]

I replaced the stock clutch in my 98 coupe earlier this year. The stock clutch was slipping during power shifts at the drag strip. I had my local acura dealer install it. Parts were $2000 plus 8 hours labor for installation. CT recommends 500 miles of "gentle" break in, which I did and there is no chatter what-so-ever. After dozens of runs at the drag strip, it still grips like new. An added benefit is the much lighter flywheel which allows the engine to rev quicker. By the way there is no adjustment for where this clutch catches. The only down side is that it catches pretty low, it catches in a very small amount of pedal travel, and it requires slightly more pressure then the stock clutch. But if you really want a clutch that is truly a street AND strip clutch, this is the one.

 

[maomaonsx]

I have the street version. I would think that the race version wouldn't last very long, and would be very difficult to use smoothly. The only thing I dont't like about the CT clutch is that the flywheel that comes with it is not very good. It's a multi-peice one, which is not as good as a single peice forged flywheel

------------------
Please visit my NSX tuning page! Mods, Japanese NSX related stuff, pics!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/6073/index.html

 

[TampaBayNSX-R]

Electro,
ZABADNSX and myself both had the six speed, 4.55 and CT clutch conversion done within a couple weeks of each other back in August. Yes, this setup is well worth the investment. The car pulls so hard out of the hole and never noses over. The acceleration is almost perfectly linear through fourth gear. No more LAME sensation waiting for your powerband to come back into play after the 1 - 2 shift! The car jumps into VTEC right out of the hole and never leaves VTEC all the way to sixth gear. The clutch is incredible. The pedal feel is very good and the grip is awesome. I've had my TCS kick in on the 2 - 3 shift a couple of times...that was surprising. Shows just how well that thing grabs. The lighter flywheel is great too...the engine feels that much livlier. That aspect, combined with the ultra-quick gearing, makes for some very fun driving. Oh, and the sound. I should mention that the quickening of the RPM's pulling so fast up through the gears totally changes the sound of the car as well. You are able to hear that VTEC roar so much more than before. I have a quick shoot that I take on the way to my office every morning. It follows a nice left hander that I take in second gear. With my OEM setup, I would reach about 7,000 rpms in second gear before braking for the next turn. Now, I'm able to pull all the way to 8,000 in second and then up to 7,000 in third! Much more fun that before and the sound is oh so much more than before.(I'm sure the residents on that street would attest) Well, that's feedback for you...one man's opinion! If you'll be at NSXPO, I'll gladly take you for a ride so you can see for yourself.

 

[Electro]

TampaBayNSX-R yes i plan on going to the NSXPO...

Altho my NSX isn't quite in show room condition... i plan on taking it to the body shop to get the paint touched up... the body shop i usually go to does really good work ...

but before i put my car in *any* shop i hafto wait for the paychecks of my new job to start rolling in....

we'll see. I have many plans... just a matter of time.

Plus as much as I'd LOVE to track my car, the tires just arent track tires.

What kind of tires do you guys use when you track your NSX?

I really dont want to wear out my street tires on the track....

For those of you who have been to an NSX event like the NSXPO, what usually goes on there?? I have read a bit about it... but never been to one... just trying to get an idea of what goes on there...

thanks guys

-Electro

 

[Electro]

TampaBayNSX-R yes i plan on going to the NSXPO...

Altho my NSX isn't quite in show room condition... i plan on taking it to the body shop to get the paint touched up... the body shop i usually go to does really good work ...

but before i put my car in *any* shop i hafto wait for the paychecks of my new job to start rolling in....

we'll see. I have many plans... just a matter of time.

Plus as much as I'd LOVE to track my car, the tires just arent track tires.

What kind of tires do you guys use when you track your NSX?

I really dont want to wear out my street tires on the track....

For those of you who have been to an NSX event like the NSXPO, what usually goes on there?? I have read a bit about it... but never been to one... just trying to get an idea of what goes on there...

thanks guys

-Electro

 

[nsxtasy]

Plus as much as I'd LOVE to track my car, the tires just arent track tires.

What kind of tires do you guys use when you track your NSX?

You don't need to use track tires on the track. Good high-performance street tires will work fine. I've done 50+ track events in my NSX using the OEM tires (Yokohama A022H). They're great for the track; they corner well, perhaps not quite as good as purpose-built track tires, but their turn-in when cornering is actually more precise than track tires.

I really dont want to wear out my street tires on the track....

No need to worry. At a track event, you might put anywhere from 100 to 300 actual track miles on your tires. On street tires, that might be the equivalent of two to three times as many miles on the highway. So one track event will be the equivalent of driving anywhere from 200 to 900 miles on the highway. You won't use up a set of tires all that quickly at that rate. (I use my car only for track events and driving to and from the track, and with the A022H I get a minimum 3,000 miles on the rears, 10K on the fronts.)

This is very different from track tires, where you can go through a set of tires in a couple of events.

For those of you who have been to an NSX event like the NSXPO, what usually goes on there?? I have read a bit about it... but never been to one... just trying to get an idea of what goes on there...

There's a lot of good stuff on the NSXPO website. For example, check out our fearless leader Lud's report from last year's NSXPO '99, at http://www.nsxprime.com/Events/1999/nsxpo99/nsxpo99.htm

Basically, it consists of a lot of fun activities - group drives, meals together, seminars, photo opportunities, track event, after-dinner speakers and entertainment, and a lot of just plain hanging out. The people are very friendly, and come from all over.

NSXPO 2000 registration is now closed... but we can make an exception for folks here if you get it in right away. If you plan to go, download your registration form from http://www.nsxpo.com/nsxpo/2000/signup.htm and fax it in no later than tonight (Tuesday evening). We need to provide the venues with our headcounts by the end of the week.

Yes, there is still space at the track event, too.

 

[Lee]

Originally posted by PUREVIL:
Do you guys have any idea why our clutch travel is sooo long???? I drove a 97 lude, 00 civic si, 94 civic si, and a 00 Celica GTS and the pedal travel is so much shorter than my NSX?? Is that just the way it is? Are the 97 + models shorter??? I was just curious.
------------------------------------------

Yea, I was wondering the same thing. I just test drove a 92 to purchase and couldn't believe the travel before engagement. I own 2 civics and with that travel they are ready for replacement. Anyway I have decided not to buy the car until the clutch is inspected b/c of its long travel... How much is normal, there is very little room for engagment at the top of its travel! But then again, its not the clutch that keeping me up at night, its that damn snap ring.

[This message has been edited by Lee (edited 10 October 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Lee (edited 10 October 2000).]